When the east coast of India was hit by super cyclone Phailin, triggering the largest evacuation ever in the country, with close to a million people relocated from the coast, the IFAW-Wildlife Trust of India team launched a mobile veterinary camp and treated thousands of animals affected by the disaster.

In the neighboring state of Andhra Pradesh, hundreds of birds including open-billed storks were housed and rehabilitated in and eventually released from a make-shift facility in a school compound.

After a call on the stranding hotline from the Massachusetts Environmental Police, IFAW dispatched to Pleasant Bay in nearby Chatham, where a seal that was strangled by a buoy line had been sited.

We were able to successfully restrain the juvenile, haul it into our vessel, and cut the line away from its neck. The seal was given a thorough health assessment, and then released into the water free of the entanglement.

Many of the dogs in this particular case exhibited wounds, scars and other conditions consistent with dog fighting.

Makeshift, filthy dog houses—some with rotting wood floors and rusted metal roofing—provided the only shelter in the sweltering heat and humidity of the three states in which these dogs were living.

IFAW, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and the Humane Society of the United States worked together to remove the dogs and transport them to temporary shelters, collect forensic evidence for prosecution, and provide veterinary care.

With the help of the North Valley Animals in Disaster Group, one of our Emergency Relief Network Partners in Northern California, IFAW provided safety training to the rescuers who had to scale trees up to 60 meters high in order to capture gibbons.

A number of Eastern Hoolock gibbons were then moved from their currently endangered habitat to the nearby Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary.

A victim of the illegal wildlife trade, an Asian Barred Owlet arrived at the IFAW BRRC underweight, his feathers broken, his feet and left wing wounded, but was rehabilitated within seven months.

When a Little Owl kept as a pet arrived at IFAW BRRC, its beak overgrown, no feathers on its head, its wing feathers and skin damaged, IFAW BRRC staff trimmed its overgrown beak and placed it in a bigger, more suitable enclosure and started to bring it back to health so it could be released back into the wild.

When an abandoned dog in a remote Canadian town needed immediate veterinary care, IFAW worked with Air Creebec, which flew her free of charge to Montreal, and Pilots and Paws Canada, which then transported her further so she could get to a vet near Toronto.

Nala has since recovered from her injuries and has found a new permanent home, where she is healthy, happy, and loved.